Fixing or Sending

This morning right before I woke up I had a dream.  My husband Shane was talking to me and he asked me if I wanted to fix our kids or send them.  When I woke up the words were still ringing in my mind.  It seemed like such a profound statement.

We know about fixing things at our house.  With a house full of boys things get broken.  A lot.  Repairing things is a big part of our days.  Fixing things implies correcting them or setting them right.  When something is broken that is what you have to do if you want it to work again-you have to fix it.  In light of training our boys however, we don't just want to be "fixing" them.  The extent of our training cannot simply be repairing the brokenness when we see it.

The bigger goal is that we are preparing to send them.  You know the drill when you are about to leave for vacation.  You make plans.  The most fun plans you make all year!  You make lists to gather your thoughts.  Where will we go?  Where will we stay?  How much money is it going to cost?  What will we eat?  What will our days look like?

Sending implies you are going to be taken to a destination. 

Fixing is something quick and in the moment.  Something gets broke, it gets fixed, end of story.  But with training our children is that the end of the story?  They are running in a parking lot, we tell them to stop, they do.  We have fixed the momentary problem and that's where the buck stops if our mindset is not constantly focused on sending them.  Preparing this child who is under our care for a short time.  Getting them ready to be released into the world.

Today how are you preparing to send your children?  They'll be leaving before you know it.  I have the saddest suspicion that I am going to turn around and they are going to be teenagers, moms and dads and I'll be trading in my van for a smaller car.  It will happen in a blink.

We're getting ready.  We don't have much time.  The time can get skewed in the monotony of cleaning up spills.  It deceives us that thief called time.  Another day another night of baseball games and we forget that we are getting ready and we don't have much time.  We are not prepared many days.

"Lord, teach me to slow down and number my days so I can gain a heart of wisdom"

Psalm 39 and Proverbs 4

Scriptures to read and meditate on today